The FWC has criticised a government department's premature destruction of CCTV footage that might have revealed the truth about a sacked bus cleaner's alleged theft of a handbag left on board.
The FWC has awarded indemnity costs against an IT company for its vexatious defence of an unfair dismissal claim that included a HR consultant's "astonishing" approach to the worker's new employer to establish his earnings.
A union delegate's "at best negligent and at worst foolhardy" practice of filling in his timesheets inaccurately did not warrant his summary dismissal, because his employer failed to establish that he deliberately set out to deceive it, the FWC has found.
The FWC has acceded to an employer's request to pay compensation of $44,450 in instalments, but has tightened the proposed timeframe, after a worker with almost a decade of service requested a pay rise and the director responded "you have me by the b-lls", before dismissing him suddenly by text message.
A mineworker has won reinstatement after her sacking for revealing the email addresses of 850 workers in a fundraising blast, the FWC warning employers in the process about the need to maintain distance between dismissal decision-makers and those "involved directly in the facts" of a matter.
A FWC full bench has reinstated a rubbish truck driver sacked for a low-level alcohol reading, finding that the initial decision relied on reasons the employer had not put forward, without considering whether the driver had an opportunity to respond.
A FWC full bench has upheld the reinstatement of a wharfie who tested positive for cocaine, rejecting employer arguments that the Commission's approach to appeals is "broadly wrong" and should involve reassessing a case rather than searching for errors in the original decision.
A full Federal Court has thrown out Serco's appeal against a finding that a senior manager sacked a trainer after he complained about the way she conducted a bullying investigation.
A schoolteacher "absurdly" sacked for yelling at students has won maximum compensation, after a FWC member retreated from his initial order to reinstate her.
A new UK bill introduced by the Starmer Labour Government seeks to reduce the qualifying period for protection from unfair dismissal from two years to an employee's first day of work, although employers will potentially have an initial nine months in which to sack those "not right for the job".
